Positive Behaviour Support
Behaviour support from one credentialed mental health nurse, start to finish. Assessment, plan, staff training and review. No age limit.
Behaviour makes sense once you understand what is driving it
Positive Behaviour Support starts from the view that behaviour is communication. Something is not working — and the job is to find out what, then change it.
Our registered behaviour support practitioner works with you, the people around you, and the environment you live in. The goal is a life with less distress in it, not simply less behaviour.
Emi does the whole job, not one link of it. She assesses where the behaviour happens, writes the plan with you, trains your support workers on it before they run a shift, and stays on it afterwards. When the practitioner who writes the plan and the team who deliver it sit in different organisations, the plan drifts and nobody owns the drift. Here it’s the same person the whole way through.
What the process involves
- Getting to know you
What is happening, when, and what came before it. - Functional assessment
Working out what the behaviour is achieving for you. - Building the plan
Practical strategies, written with you. - Teaching and reviewing
Supporting the people around you to use it, and adjusting what does not work.
Meet Emi, our behaviour support practitioner
Emi is a mental health nurse, and not just a nurse who happens to work in mental health. She holds the national credential for it. To be a Credentialed Mental Health Nurse, the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses assesses your training, years of practice, ongoing education and professional standing. You have to keep meeting the standard to keep the credential.
She has worked in both community and inpatient settings. That matters. A behaviour support plan written by someone who has only met a person in a clinic room reads very differently from one written by someone who has been in the house at six in the evening when it all went wrong, and on the ward when it escalated past that.
Where mental health and behaviour meet
A lot of what gets called a behaviour problem is a mental health problem wearing a disguise: medication that has stopped working, sleep that has fallen apart, something starting up that nobody has named yet. Emi is trained to tell the difference.
The WA Chief Psychiatrist has designated Emi an Authorised Mental Health Practitioner under the Mental Health Act 2014. That designation goes only to senior mental health clinicians with years of experience assessing serious mental illness, and it must be maintained with supervision and training every year. Emi doesn’t use that role with our participants. Here, her job is behaviour support. What the designation tells you is the level she practises at. When she says a problem is psychiatric rather than behavioural, she knows who to call.
Where this helps
When placements keep breaking down
If housing or supports keep falling over, a behaviour support plan gets at why rather than just finding the next placement.
When restrictive practices are in use
We work towards reducing and removing restrictive practices, which is what the framework requires and what dignity requires.
When staff are out of their depth
Sometimes the plan is mostly about equipping the people around you. That is legitimate and it works.
What you can expect
- No age limit. We take behaviour support referrals for children, teenagers and adults. If you’ve been told someone is too young or too old for a service, ask us.
- Reports in writing. You get a progress report, monthly or quarterly as agreed at the start, sent to whoever you nominate. You won’t have to chase it.
- Independence. Clarity Care doesn’t deliver supports to anyone whose Support Coordinator works for us. If something goes wrong, the person you raise it with shouldn’t work for the people you’re raising it about. If you need a support coordinator, we’ll point you to an independent one.
Where we work
Dawesville, Falcon, Mandurah, Halls Head, Erskine, Greenfields, Meadow Springs, Lakelands, Madora Bay, Singleton, Golden Bay and Karnup.
How to refer
Call 0410 560 769 or email info@claritycare.com.au. You’ll get an answer within 48 hours. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you who might be.
Referring for someone else? Download the one-page referrer summary (PDF).
On restrictive practices
A restrictive practice is anything that limits a person’s rights or freedom of movement. They are tightly regulated, they must be authorised, and they must be reported.
Our position is straightforward: restrictive practices are a last resort, they are never a substitute for adequate support, and every plan we write includes a path to reducing them.
If you are currently subject to restrictive practices and nobody has explained them to you or shown you the plan, ask us. You are entitled to know.
Common questions
What happens at the first appointment?
Emi meets you and the people who know you best. She asks what’s happening, when it happens and what has been tried. Then she plans where and when to observe, usually at home, school or your day program. Nothing is decided in the first meeting. She won’t write a plan before she has seen the behaviour in context.
Who can refer?
Anyone can contact us: you, a family member, a guardian, a support coordinator, a school, a GP or a DVA referrer. Call 0410 560 769 or email info@claritycare.com.au. You’ll get an answer within 48 hours.
What is a behaviour support plan?
It’s a written plan that explains why a behaviour happens, what to do to prevent it, how to respond, and how to help the person build skills that meet the same need in a safer way. It’s written with the person and the people who support them. Emi trains support workers on it, then reviews it and changes it if it isn’t working.
Do you work with children?
Yes. There’s no age limit. We take referrals for children, teenagers and adults.
How long does it take to get a plan?
It depends on the person. Where a plan includes regulated restrictive practices, the NDIS rules require an interim plan within one month and a comprehensive plan within six months. For plans without them, we agree a timeframe with you at the start.
How will I know how it’s going?
You get a written progress report, monthly or quarterly as agreed at the start, sent to whoever you nominate. You won’t have to chase it.
Clarity Care is a registered NDIS provider. NDIS Registration ID 4-JZUVBUS, registration group 0110. ABN 68 612 424 310.
Need a behaviour support plan?
Talk to us about what is happening and what funding you have. We will be honest about timeframes and what is realistic.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us what is going on and we will talk you through the options — including telling you honestly if we are not the right fit.